Northern Ireland factory opens doors to £13,000 savings 19 August 2013

Timber doors and windows manufacturer Heron Brothers is saving £13,000 a year on electricity costs, following the installation of ABB variable-speed drives on its extractor fan system.

Its Northern Ireland factory uses three 37kW and one 18.5kW extraction fans as well as a 15kW transfer fan, all of which run when the production machinery is switched on – removing wood dust via a filter and a rotary vane feeding a hopper.

Damien O'Callaghan, executive manager for the plant, explains that the fans used to be left running all day, because the control panel was some distance from the machines they serve and they had to be started in sequence to avoid overloading the supply. "We asked Advantage Control to come up with a more efficient way of working" he says.

Advantage Control carried out an initial survey, using a data logger to record weekly fan operations alongside overall factory power consumption. The firm then provide the value of variable speed drive control by installing an ABB hire unit to run the 18.5kW fan for a week.

The eventual solution involved installing five ABB general purpose drives mounted beside the main control panel. The panel itself was unchanged, as the filter cleaning and the rotary vanes are controlled by timers. The 15kW transfer fan was connected into the emergency circuit, as a failure of this unit stops the extractor fans.

"Advantage Control advised us that grants were available, which we duly applied for and received," states Adds O'Callaghan.

"[The firm] made the investment decision very easy for us, as it was less than a year payback when annual savings and grants were factored in."

Not only were energy costs reduced by £13,000 pa – resulting from a cut in the average daily power from 103.3kW to 51.4kW by matching fan speed to process demand – but also, controlling the fans through VSD technology allowed fitting of remote control stations throughout the factory.

That means operators can now switch off fans serving their machines while moving materials or during production breaks. The result: the plant is now saving 50% on its energy bills while reducing CO2 emissions by 59.79 tonnes per year.

Payback for fitting the drives is estimated at just under nine months, and, just as important, O'Callaghan reports that reducing power demand has cut the strain on the plant's mains supply, which was near the limit of its transformer.

The drives' ramped start up ensure they never need more current than they are labelled for, while isolators and cables that were previously hot are now noticeably cooler, he says.

"The success of this project has made us more aware of energy saving solutions," states O'Callaghan.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
ABB Ltd
Advantage Control

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